Labyrinth Exploration 101 - L.E Chapter 89 (Part 2): An Ordinary Day (5)

The insurmountable gap in their levels was something Kim Doo-gyeom could never overcome.

*Crackle—*

The trembling blade began to glow red-hot.

Heat. Intense, concentrated mana at a single point was melting the sword.

Kim Doo-gyeom tried to let go, but even that was denied. His hand and the sword were fused together.

“N-no—!”

His face contorted in despair. A flood of thoughts raced through his mind like a montage.

*Who the hell is this guy? What’s going on? He’s not just some crippled sorcerer. Damn it, then why—*

*BOOM!*

The sword exploded. The blade became a muzzle, unleashing a torrent of energy that engulfed Kim Doo-gyeom.

*CRASH!*

He was blasted back, slamming into the wall. Household items shattered and scattered. Buried in the debris like trash, Kim Doo-gyeom lay unconscious but miraculously alive. Seol Ha-woon hadn’t wanted him dead.

“…Are you okay?”

Seol Ha-woon turned to the person behind him.

“Y-yeah… I’m fine.”

Lee Seon-wook nodded, dazed, but then a question struck him.

“But… did you know from the start?”

Seol Ha-woon had come to him before Kim Doo-gyeom, warning him of potential retaliation and asking for cooperation.

“From the start…”

Seol Ha-woon limped over to the living room, retrieving the smartphone from behind the potted plant and stopping the recording.

“Let’s just say I knew from the start. Makes it easier to explain to the police.”

“Oh… right. Let’s go with that.”

“Shall we rest for a bit? The police will be here soon.”

Using mana in a residential area was illegal. Mana usage was strictly regulated to specific zones, though exceptions existed based on qualifications or circumstances.

“Y-yeah.”

Seol Ha-woon sat on the sofa and pulled out a tea bag.

“Do you have any spare teacups? Sorry, it looks like your kitchen got wrecked.”

“Oh, hold on.”

Lee Seon-wook retrieved a teacup from a cabinet above the kitchen counter. Just then, a small dog emerged from the master bedroom, the door having been jarred open by the earlier impact.

The little dog trotted over with a *patter patter* and stopped at Seol Ha-woon’s feet, eyeing him curiously as if to say, *Who are you?*

“Here… it is. I’ll grab the coffee pot too—”

“No need for that.”

Seol Ha-woon poured water into the teacup, heated it with a flicker of mana, and dropped in the tea bag, stirring it with [Telekinesis]. He prepared two cups and handed one to Lee Seon-wook.

“Uh… thank you.”

They sat on the sofa, a small distance between them. Seol Ha-woon glanced at a family photo on the living room wall.

A happy family. The father’s face was familiar. He’d known him, after all.

Not closely, but someone he’d met a few times as a child.

“Lee Shin-hyung, right?”

“…Pardon?”

Lee Seon-wook followed his gaze to the photo.

“Oh, yes, that’s my father’s name… How did you know?”

“He does a lot of volunteer work, doesn’t he? He used to visit our orphanage often.”

People who volunteered with kids were likely to cross paths eventually. With fewer than 300 orphanages nationwide, it wasn’t that surprising.

*That’s why I despise Kim Doo-gyeom more than any other villain.*

“He’s a good man. The kids at the orphanage used to get excited for pizza day when he came.”

“….”

Lee Seon-wook stared at Seol Ha-woon silently. His gaze soon turned to quiet sobs.

Seol Ha-woon sipped his tea, lost in thought.

*Did I manage to protect them?*

It wasn’t about some grand sense of justice, like bringing back those who died unjustly or changing the future. He’d done it because it felt right by his own standards. Like saving a child crawling toward a well—nothing more than that.

In a broader sense, he’d been helped by this man too.

“…Will I ever forget?” Lee Seon-wook mumbled, his voice breaking with tears.

“Every night, those memories haunt me, torment me…”

“Why try so hard to forget?”

“…What?”

“Forgetting doesn’t change anything.”

Seol Ha-woon met his eyes, peering into the tear-soaked gaze.

“Forgetting doesn’t erase who you were back then or the pain you felt.”

A faint, bittersweet smile crossed Seol Ha-woon’s lips.

“And it doesn’t bring back what you’ve lost.”

He carried his own bitter scars, but he had no regrets.

“Just… live with it.”

The miracle of regression.

He’d been given two years to turn back time.

It wasn’t enough to fix everything, but it was enough to tie up loose ends and move forward.

“Instead of trying to forget, try taking one step forward. It might get easier with time.”

Seol Ha-woon gestured toward Lee Seon-wook’s tea. Lee Seon-wook quietly lifted his cup.

“I don’t think we can overcome the past. Not you, not me… We just make peace with it when the chance comes.”

You can’t defeat your past—it’s who you are. You can’t carve out the shameful, humiliating, despairing days and claim they’re not yours.

“Everyone’s different, but that’s how I see it.”

*Bang!*

The front door burst open. Heavy footsteps echoed as police stormed in. They spotted Kim Doo-gyeom sprawled on the floor, then Seol Ha-woon and Lee Seon-wook.

“We’re responding to a report… Wait, Jesuldan?!(Always-Right)”

One of the officers pointed at Seol Ha-woon, eyes wide. Seol Ha-woon gave a wry smile.

“Seol Ha-woon.”

“I-I’m Lee Seon-wook.”

“Why is Jesuldan here…?”

“Why’s Seol Ha-woon here?”

The officers looked baffled. A ranker from the police department followed them in.

“What a mess… Wait, Jesuldan?!”

He reacted the same way. Seol Ha-woon pointed at Kim Doo-gyeom.

“That’s Kim Doo-gyeom.”

“Kim Doo-gyeom… huh?”

“The details are in this video.”

Seol Ha-woon handed over the smartphone. The officers, still puzzled, played the recording.

*“If you exposed me, your dad, your mom, your sibling… Where’s that mutt of yours, by the way? Anyway, none of you are dying easy. Your whole family? Consider them dead because of you.”*

They watched the “evidence” with grave expressions, nodding slowly.

“This is some solid proof. Haven’t seen anything this clear in a while.”

The lead detective turned to Seol Ha-woon and Lee Seon-wook.

“So, do you two know each other?”

“Uh…”

“With my dad!”

Lee Seon-wook answered for the hesitating Seol Ha-woon.

“He knows my dad. My father does a lot of volunteer work, and at the orphanage…”

Seol Ha-woon nodded with a bitter smile.

“Yeah. That’s how it is.”

“Got it…”

The senior detective pulled out his phone, looking a bit shy.

“Uh, Jesuldan—no, Ha-woon. Could I maybe get a quick photo? My daughter’s a huge fan…”

Dangun

I'm currently Translating the following novels: "Labyrinth Exploration 101" & "The Monarch Who Levels Up by Devouring " If you want to support me and read more chapters please subscribe to my Patreon!

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